NC Senate looks to crack down on AI in health insurance, ‘surprise billing’ by hospitals

The practice of “surprise billing” by hospitals should be severely restricted, state Senate health policy leaders said Wednesday, as they took a bipartisan vote to crack down on the practice and require more transparency for patients.

The idea is to give people a better idea of what a medical procedure might cost them before they agree to it, to give patients more certainty over whether their care will be in-network or out-of-network, and to stop new bills from continuing to arrive months…